A BREEZE IN THE CITY COUNCIL.

Evening Post, Volume LVII, Issue 22, 27 January 1899, Page 2

A BREEZE IN THE CITY COUNCIL.

1 THE THORNDON RECREATION GROUND MOVEMENT. A deputation of Thorndon ratepayers attended at the meeting of the City Council last night in support of the movement for providing a recreation ground in that part of the city. Councillor Stnifch objected to the deputation interviewing the Council without notice, and he moved that it should nob bo heard until the next meeting. This proposal brought Councillor Ander Bon to hi)s feet. With considerable warmth he asserted tllat Councillor Smith was acting unfairly towards Thorndon, and had always shown himself opposed to that part of the city. Councillor Smith (to Councillor Anderson) — That is false ; you know it. lou are telling a deliberate He. I shall not be dictated to by you. I have no objection to the deputation waiting upon the Council, but I submit that it should have given notice. lam not in the habit of objecting to matters calculated to benefit Thorndon. * Councillor Barber seconded the motion, saying he should not have done so but for Councillor Anderson's unjustifiable attack upon Councillor* $mith. The Mayor expressed a hope that Councillor Smith would withdraw the motion, as he did not think it was right that the deputation should be punished under the circumstances. Councillor Smith gracefully withdrew the motion, and the deputation was then introduced. MrT. Warn ock presented a petition from a large number of ratepayers praying the Council to form the Sydney-street gully into a reoreation ground. That spot was not, he said, much frequented by the public, and it coiild, he felt certain, be made into an excellent recreation ground. Another member of the deputation said that in consequence of the absence of a recreation ground the children of Thorndon were obliged to play on the streets. Mr. C. J. Cooper urged that the Council would be doing a graceful thing by granting the prayer of the petitioners. Councillor Smith — Does the deputation know what it will cost to make a recreation ground ? Mr. Cooper— About £8000. The Mayor admitted that the city wan badly off in the matter of recreation grounds. The public schools were as a rule without adequate playgrounds for school children. He really thought that Thorndon deserved to have a proper recrca tion ground. The spot which the deputation desired had been a portion of the burial reserve, and had been handed ovei to the city by the Ballance Government on condition that it was turned into a recreation ground. The present position war that the Council had agreed to submit to the ratepayers the question of a loan to convert the piece of land into a recreation ground, and he would urge the Council to take action in that direction. The depu tation could rest assured that the matter would not be lost sight of. The deputation then retired.